Just a Dream
by XiaoDui
Summary: Sam's big day - and Danny's 'homecoming' - falls to peices with a few words from a military general.
1. This Can't Be Happening To Me

_It was two weeks after the day she turned eighteen_

_All dressed in white, going to the church that night . . ._

Sam Manson actually smiled as she smoothed out her white dress - this would probably be the only time she would wear white and **not** hate it with a passion.

_She had his box of letters in the passenger seat . . ._

Today, her fiance Danny Fenton would be returning home.

_Sixpence in her shoe, something borrowed, something blue_

_And when the church door opened up wide . . ._

She felt the favue tug at her gut, her instincts telling her something had gone wrong; it was most likely her mother insulting the Fentons again . . . you'd think the woman could at least stop spouting her 'I'm bettter than you' crap for her only daughter's big day!

_She pulled her veil down trying to hide her tears_

_Oh, she just couldn't beleive it . . ._

Today, she was going to **marry** Danny, and she couldn't be happier if she tried.

_She heard the trumpets from the military band . . ._

As soon as he was old enough, the government had drafted Danny into their army - after all, who wouldn't want a famous, powerful halfa on their side?

_And the flowers fell out of her hand . . ._

" . . . Mr. Daniel Fenton . . . MIA . . . missing in action . . ." she only caught a few words, but understood why her Danny wasn't at that altar, blushing beet red.

_Baby, why'd you leave me, why'd you have to go_

_I was counting on forever, now I'll never know_

_I can't even breathe_

_It's like I'm looking from a distance standing in the background_

_Everybody's saying he's not coming home now_

_This can't be happening to me_

_This is just a dream . . ._

Sam understood what the general left unsaid - ' . . . we're not sure we'll find him alive . . .'

_The preacher main said 'let us bow our head and pray; Lord, please lift his soul and heal this hurt'_

_And then the congregation all stood up and sang_

_The saddest song she'd ever hear_

_And then they handed her a folded-up flag . . ._

Usually, she never cried, especially in public . . . but she couldn't have stopped the tears from flowing if she tried - if she'd even **wanted** to . . .

_And she held on to all she had left of him_

_Oh, and what could have been . . ._

She buried her face in the flag, sobbing.

_And the guns rang one last shot . . ._

_. . . and it felt like a bullet in her heart._

**Why?!**


	2. This Is Just A Dream

The city's clock tower chimed an ominous midnight, the sound seeming to echo through the sleeping streets.

In a hotel on the other side of town, a black-haired woman awoke with a start. Her breath came in frantic pants, and a fine sheen of perspiration shone across her forehead. The room was dark, a shaft of moonlight streaking through a window. Curtains fluttered in the slightest breeze, sending a chill down her back.

Sam trembled as she shook off the remnants of the dream, her breathing slowly calming down. On the other hand, her heart continued to rush, terrified.

What if it wasn't a dream?

Danny . . . _Danny_!

She couldn't have lost him - no! Her quivering fingers snatched at the phone - dial tone, c'mon - and she all but punched in the numbers. Instead of reaching who she was trying to, the hotel concierge's voice answered her.

"Ma'am, is there a problem?"

"What're you doing at the Fentons'?!" Sam demanded in surprise, a mixture of fear and sleep blurring her thinking process.

". . . ma'am, this is still the Plaza hotel. If you wish to make a call, you'll have to enter 2-1-9 before dialing."

". . . oh . . . thankyou!" She blurted, hung up, and frantically dialed again. 219 . . . 555 . . . 1221!

Her eyes saw nothing as she listened to the rings. "C'mon, someone, pick up!" She breathed, drumming her fingers in impatient worry. Her Danny couldn't be dead . . . he couldn't be . . .

Suddenly, a soft moan . . .

. . . and a dark shape shifted next to her . . .

. . . in her bed . . .

. . . in the middle of the night.

She froze in terror. _Ohmigodsomeone'sinmybedinahotelwhat'sgoingonohmigod_!

The lump rolled over, and turned on the light.

Sam found herself staring into ice-blue eyes.

Her _Danny's_ ice-blue eyes.

. . . which also looked very, very sleepy, and vaguely annoyed at having been woken up in the middle of the night.

" . . . Sammy, what're ya doin'?" He yawned, blinking at her.

". . . you're . . . here?" Sam stared at him, unaware that Mrs. Fenton had picked up the phone.

Danny gave a crooked grin at hearing his mother's muffled voice threatening whoever had called in the middle of the night and wasn't even going to answer her. Her reached across her, taking the phone and hanging up in the middle of a particularly nasty threat having to do with someone's intestines.

"Sam, it's the middle of the night. What're you _doing_?!"

"I-I had a dream . . . it was our wedding, a-and you w-were _dead_ . . ." Sam stared at him. Was this the dream, or was the dream the dream? Which was real? Oh, man, now she was confused . . . eh, at least her dream let her see her Danny shirtless . . .

Danny _laughed_. "Oh, Sam." Shaking his head, he chuckled as he took her hand and showed it to her.

A dark gold band was wrapped around her ring finger, and a match was settled on Danny's.

". . . _huh_?!"

Her halfa _husband_ only laughed again, turning off the light and wrapping her in his arms. "G'night, love - it was just a dream."


End file.
